Justice Department seeks more information on North Forest closure

By Ericka Mellon |
May 28, 2013
| Updated: May 28, 2013 10:18pm

The North Forest school district got a rare piece of good news Tuesday when it learned that the U.S. Justice Department wants more information before clearing the state-ordered takeover by Houston ISD.

The federal agency's request throws an unexpected hurdle into the process but does not necessarily mean the dissolution of the long-troubled North Forest Independent School District will be delayed beyond the state's July 1 deadline.

The chief of the Justice Department's voting section wrote a letter to the Texas Education Agency saying federal officials need to know how HISD plans to redraw its school board boundaries to encompass North Forest. The Justice Department must sign off on the annexation to ensure fair treatment of minority voters under the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

TEA spokeswoman Debbie Ratcliffe said state officials believe HISD must send a letter to the Justice Department explaining its plans for redistricting.

David Thompson, an attorney for HISD, said the district can relay some options to the Justice Department but he thinks it would be premature for the school board to take official action until the annexation is official.

"It's a little bit of the chicken or the egg," said Ratcliffe of the TEA.

In past cases when the TEA has moved to close school districts, the Justice Department has not requested similar follow-up information, Ratcliffe and Thompson said. Officials with the TEA, North Forest and HISD were trying to interpret the potential impact late Tuesday.

Thompson said HISD was continuing to plan to absorb the 7,000 or so students from North Forest. The state's order calls for the merger to take effect in five weeks.

Chris Tritico, an attorney representing North Forest in its effort to block the closure, said he was optimistic the Justice Department ultimately would deny the annexation. He noted that all seven of the North Forest school board members are black, while HISD's nine-member board includes four Anglos. But like those in North Forest, the majority of students in HISD are black and Hispanic.

Tritico said he recently met with Justice Department officials in Washington to explain the district's numerous complaints against the state's closure order. On Tuesday, he reiterated his pledge to continue fighting in state and federal court if the Justice Department rules against North Forest.

Former TEA Commissioner Robert Scott first ordered North Forest ISD to close in 2012 after years of financial and academic problems, but he granted the district a one-year reprieve after the state agency failed to follow the proper process and faced a time crunch.

In February, Scott's successor, Michael Williams, announced that he, too, was ordering HISD to absorb North Forest.